Agricultural bench



April 1950 R. E. WILCOX ETQAL 2,502,910

AGRICULTURAL BENCH Filed April 9, 1947 PI l I;

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Patented Apr. 4, 1950 UNITED STA ES/PATENT oFFlcE I 2,502,910 AGRICULTURAL BENCH Robert Edwin Wilcox and Harry H. Aspcrger, Sr., Indianapolis, Ind.

Application April 9, 1947, Serial No. 740,350

Claims. (o1. 47-18) This invention relates to an agricultural bench.

Benches heretofore have been made of metal coated with bituminous material to prevent rusting, wood and concrete. Benches, heretofore, have been used for soil and water culture. For soil culture the earth between crops is required to be sterilized, usually eifected by steaming. Such steaming usually results in cracking of the concrete bench. The wood bench is subject to rot of all kinds. Uncoated metal benches are subject to' oxidation resulting in weakening and leakage. Covered metallic benches, when steam sterilized, loose the coating. When plain steel or aluminum -is used for a bench it is subject to, chemical re- :sides in constructing a bench or a material that has all the advantages inherent in the aforesaid materials and so far as presently experimentally determined has none of the aforesaid defects or objections, such material being Transite, a mixture chiefly of asbestos and cement, which material in bench form costs no more than or less than all other materials named herein except wood which in turn is but short lived.

Another feature of the present invention resides in the formation of the bench in units whereby same may be extended linearly for any desired length.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the formation of the units whereby not only unskilled labor may be utilized for erection and dismantling but in the event of a break, the broken section may be easily removed and replaced and at a very nominal cost.

Other objects and features of the invention will be set forth more full hereinafter.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the fOllOWing description and claims:

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a plural section divided bench embodying the invention and more particularly the ends and an intermediate section of same.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central sectional view.

successive leg members may be disposed at slight- 2 Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on line 4- -4 of Fig. 2 and in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one end of a body unit.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view of a joint seal included in the invention.

In the drawings Hi indicates a concrete or similar support member having a median groove II in the upper face l3 of the latter, and for purposes of illustration being shown shallow grooved and herein substantially V-shaped as at H. Therein is seated ametallic, channel sectioned, V-shaped member M from which at each end projects upward extensions l5 also of channel shape in cross section. The resultant is a U-sha'ped element, U-shape in transverse section, 20-

and having inwardly and slightly downwardly sloping bottom portions.

The leg members l0 may be of the desired height for floor level, table level or bench level purposes as desired. For water culture and when desired for soil culture the V-grooved faces of 1y different levels, as from one end to the other of the linear bench, or from the mid-portion towards the ends or from the latter toward the middle of said bench.

Partitions or ends I6 comprise a plate with a bottom edge I! and side edges l8 conforming to the channel l4l5 and seated therein along said edges. Trough or body forming portions comprise precast or premolded units l9 having integral bottom portions 20 meeting at 2| and with sides 22 meeting portions 20 at 23. Each end is flanged outwardly as at 24 and 25, same being integral with portions 20 and 22 respectively.

These flanges nest in the channels I l-I5 as shown. Between same there is provided packing 26, see Fig. 6, suitably caulked. This may be oakum if desired. Thereover may be applied an asphalt or tar seal but a lead seal 2? is preferred. This is a poured insert that is preferably caulked with mallet and caulking irons. The aforesaid provides a water tight connection between bench body sections or between partitions and body sections or between end plates and body sections. The plates and sections are of the material specified initially herein.

The resulting structure accordingly is easily fabricated from the several parts which may be standardized. The length of the body section is determined by the load to be sustained there- 3 by. This may be water with plants growing on chicken wire above same and with roots in the water, or water floodable aggregate such as gravel or Haydite, or may be sand and gravel, or may be soil as desired for various types of culture, well understood in the greenhouse art.

Should some overhead element fall upon the resulting bench and fracture a body section, it obviously may readily be removed and replaced with an undamaged new or used section. The greenhouse man may carry in stock independent bases, plates, sections and channels and erect the benches inside or outside as desired for no one element is of such mass or weight that it cannot be readily handled by two men and in most instances can be, if necessary, handled by one man.

While a V-shaped bench with vertical sides is shown herein, obviously the same may partake of other forms, that is the bottom may be arcuate in outline and the sides flare slightly outwardly and upwardly and merge with the bottom on a radius.

When V-shaped in cross-section, one form of the invention, given for illustration only, includes body sections about four feet in length and about four feet in width. The bases in such instances are about four and a half feet in length and about half a foot in width and of the desired height as, for example, ten to twelve inches. The

body section may be about thirteen inches deep which would place the top of the bench about a foot and a half above the ground level. As stated initially, the height of the bases determines the bench level and the resulting bench may bepitched longitudinally as desired or required.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in great detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character.

The several modifications described herein as well as others which will readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art, all are considered to be within the broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is: p

1. A bench structure comprising a plurality of bases, each being elongated and with a. reentrant upper face and a longitudinally disposed groove therein opening upon that face, a similar number of channel-like sectioned retainers, each retainer having a bottom end portion conforming to the groove and seatable therein, each retainer having upwardly directed ends, a pair of end plates, each end plate being seatable in the end retainer of an end base and disposed remotely therein with respect to the other end plate, body section means disposed between a pair of bases and including a reentrant bottom portion and upwardly directed sides and flange means on each end of the body portion and directed outwardly therefrom and seatable in the retainer, and seal means in the retainers for maintaining the structure in leak-proof condition.

2. A bench structure as defined by claim 1 wherein the body section is of a material comprising cement and asbestos.

3. A bench structure as defined by claim 1 wherein the body section means includes a plurality of body sections, the number thereof being one less than the number of bases.

4. A bench structure as defined by claim 3 wherein there is provided a partition plate similar to said end plates and disposed between the confronting flanges of an adjacent pair of sections. 1

5. A bench structure as defined by claim wherein said seal means disposed in the partition seating retainer is disposed between the plate and said confronting flanges.

ROBERT EDWIN WILCOX. HARRY H. ASPERGER, SR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 972,220 ODonoghue Oct. 11, 1910 2,060,735 Krueger Nov. 10, 1936 

